Connected Communities Implementation Grant Program

The Connected Communities Implementation Grant Program awarded $3M for grantees and their partner organizations to explore the innovative use of Health IT to address the health concerns and needs of Massachusetts communities.

The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and local health reform efforts have spurred the pace of collaboration and data sharing between healthcare organizations. This grant program builds upon prior state and federal investments in Health IT to strengthen the care coordination workflows and information pathways between organizations through the use of Health IT. The program will benefit the entire health system of the Commonwealth, and most importantly, the patients.

The Connected Communities Implementation Grant Solicitation was issued in May 2015 and MeHI awarded seven healthcare organizations, working with a total of 78 partner organizations. The awardees will each receive grants of $434,000 to support collaborative projects. A press release announcement was published in June, 2016. An additional pilot grant project was awarded for the amount of $22,123 to Upham's Corner Health Center.

Eligibility Criteria

Those eligible organizations serving as the lead for this grant had to be involved in Treatment, Payment, and healthcare Operations (TPO), e.g., practices, health plans, and hospitals. MeHI encouraged grant applications to include additional participation and collaboration with civic and non-profit organizations to create a true community approach to addressing health issues.

Competitive applications had to incorporate participation of multiple unaffiliated collaborating organizations, which at a minimum includes, a Behavioral Health organization or a Long-Term and Post-Acute Care organization. While we did not specify the number of collaborating organizations, roughly four to eight TPO-type unaffiliated collaborators were expected, with eight or more total collaborators (i.e., affiliated, unaffiliated; TPO, non-TPO) encouraged.